Who Would Have Thought It
by PenPMT
Summary: A new mystery brings about the formation of a relationship between two of the gang that no one would have suspected.
1. The Dream

_ The night was beautiful, a hint of magic in the air. Through the cloudless sky a cool breeze whispered, carrying with it the hint of nature. The full moon shone down brightly on the land, the stars surrounding it only enhancing its majesty. The light it illuminated competed with the glow from the lights of the city below, the white of nature contrasting with the rainbow of color offered by man. All in all, it was a view that was a wonder to behold._

_ From the balcony Daphne Blake gazed at this spectacle and was moved by all its glory. Behind her she could hear the music of the party wafting through the air, and it only added to the moment. She sighed contently as she leaned against the railing. She was a sight to behold, her red hair down superbly coiffed down to her bare shoulders. The hair was highlighted by the purple shoulder less gown, which fell all the way to the floor. The paleness of her skin offset the gold necklace that hung around her neck and would draw the eyes of any bystander. All in all, she was a vision of beauty._

_ As she admired the view she suddenly heard a pair of footsteps behind her. Before she could turn around an arm circled around her waist and a voice whispered into her ear, "I can't believe that it took me this long to find you." She shivered in delight as she leaned back into the man's embrace. They stayed that way for a few minutes before the man said, "Come, let's rejoin the party. I want to show you off to everyone."_

_ They parted and then head back into the room, heading straight for the dance floor. As soon as they hit the center they came together again, Daphne leaning her head against his shoulder, and they slowly began to dance. It seemed as if time had stopped as they slowly weaved their way around the room, moving in time with the music. Finally the moment ended as the music concluded and they became still once more. They remained arm in arm for seconds before Daphne lifted her head and leaned up. Her eyes closed as their lips met, the kiss deepening by the second as they drew themselves even closer. She luxuriated in the texture of his lips, the presence of the hair on his chin as always adding to the bliss of this feeling. As they parted her eyes slowly slid open and she beheld Norville "Shaggy" Rogers smiling warmly down on her._

* * *

Daphne bolted upright in bed, gasping at the final image of her dream. As she struggled to regain her breath she looked around her, reassuring herself of her surrounding. She was sitting in her hotel bed, the lights out but the room faintly illuminated by the ambient light outside. She could see that she was alone, her clothes neatly folded and her suitcases lined up along the side. All in all, it looked like a normal hotel room.

As she collapsed back into her bed her mind wandered to the events of the last couple of days. They had come to the city of Austin to deal with another mystery, another monster to hunt down. Once again, it proved to just be a man in a costume, using the monster angle to hide his crimes. And, strange as it seemed, the chase of this criminal happened the same way, the group would show up, Shaggy and Scooby would discover the disguised criminal first after the group split up, and after some time they trapped the man and revealed his identify. If it wasn't for the threat that was offered, she would be bored by the repetition.

After the capture, the group had retired to a Mexican restaurant to have a celebratory meal. And while at first everything seemed to be normal, it was only now that she began to notice difference from previous such meals. For one thing, while Shaggy goofed around with Scooby, she noticed that he seemed to have spent an equal amount of time goofing off with her. And that brought to notice the fact that while she had sat next to Fred Jones, she seemed to have been more focused on enjoying herself with Shaggy.

Finally Daphne shook her head to clear it of these thoughts. Wherever they led, she could not deal with them tonight. Maybe this dream was just a one night thing, something caused for some unknown reason. She nodded at that thought as she dozed off, but despite that there still remained in her mind the feeling of the dream Shaggy's lips on her own, and the feeling that whelmed through her when she saw his face.


	2. The Meeting

The scenery passed by at a whizzing speed as the van journeyed down the road. If anyone was also driving down that road, they would have stopped to stare at the van, since its design was one of a kind. Overall it was green, but painted all over that bright and dark green were red flowers and along the sides were the world known words "Mystery Machine."

Inside the famous Mystery Machine was the Scooby Doo Detective Agency, relaxing as they enjoyed the ride. Sharing the front seat were Velma Dinkly and Fred Jones, Fred as always the driver. In the back compartment, arranged in two groups were the remainder of the group, Daphne Blake, Shaggy Rogers, and Scooby Doo, with the latter two having fun together while Daphne hung over the rim of the front seat to join in the conversation with Fred and Velma.

Without turning his head from the road Fred said, "So, Daphne, tell us again about these friends of yours that we are going to meet."

Daphne sighed and said, 'They're not exactly friends, there more like acquaintances of the family. The head of the family, Victor Broderick, has been a business partner of my father's for years."

"If you're not close friends of theirs, why are we going to their celebration?" Velma asked.

"Dad said it would look good of the family to go. Besides it will give us a chance to relax from all of our cases."

From the back of the van Shaggy spoke up, saying, "Well, Scooby and I are excited about this. Imagine, a weekend with no spooky monsters, no dangerous stunts, and free food. It's going to be a blast."

"Yearh, a brast," Scooby added, nodding his head in agreement.

Daphne shook her head at the excitement that the two of them were exhibiting, especially when they turned to the favorite activity, eating. She turned back to continue talking with Fred and Velma, but as she did so her mind turned towards Shaggy's face as he devoured his meals. The expression that he displayed at a bountiful spread was one of rapture, and while it amused her at how fascinated he and Scooby could be at a meal, there was a part of her that felt slightly jealous. She shook her head to rid herself of that feeling before turning her full attention back to the front of the van.

The three of them continued to talk of nothing in particular when Fred called out, "There she is guys, the Broderick manor." As the van turned off the main road and onto the drive leading to it, the thoughts running through all of their minds was that it appeared that for once they would be having a mystery free vacation, for the surrounding terrain exhibited no hints of anything supernatural.

* * *

As the Mystery Machine drove up the lane, the manor in front of them grew in size until it encompassed the entire horizon. It was a classical white mansion with a red trim. The lane ended in a u-turn, with a flower garden in the center of it. The van stopped and the group climbed out but they did not move forward as they stared at awe at the building.

Finally the front door opened and a young man stepped out. He was a striking handsome man, tall, blond, and well-muscled. Unfortunately there was an air about him that indicated that he knew how handsome and rich he was and that he looked down on everyone else. With a condescending smile on his face he said, "My dear Daphne, it has been ages since we last meet, and you are still an image of glory."

"Hello Todd, "Daphne replied, a sick smile on her face. Indicating the rest of the group she said, "Let me introduce you to my friends."

Before she could continue Todd held up his hand and said, "There is no need for that since I only have eyes for you. Come; let me show you your room."

As Todd walked off Daphne turned to her friends with an expression of apology on her face and Fred said, "You don't have to say anything Daphne. It's not your fault that he's a jerk." She nodded and they picked up their luggage and headed into the building.

A couple of hours later the group walked into the ballroom, which was full of people, both Broderick family members and other invited guests. They were dressed in formal clothes, though Shaggy's clothes weren't the classiest of clothes. Turning toward the buffet table he said, "Later guys, me and Scooby have to check out the food."

As he departed Todd walked up, the smug smile still on his face. He looked Daphne up and down before saying, "You are truly an elegant woman Daphne, quite worthy of belonging to such an illustrious family as yours...and mine." Daphne silently groaned and headed toward Victor Broderick to pay her compliments, Fred and Velma following closely behind. As they passed through the crowds she glanced back to see Todd still staring suggestively at her and she shuddered in disgust. As her gaze drifted back to the Victor she noticed Shaggy and Scooby at the buffet table, gorging as always on the food.

A warm smile spread across her face at their activity, a wave of relief washing away the thought of Todd's smile. She stopped at she thought over this reaction but was unaware of that fact until Velma tugged at her shoulder and said, "Daphne, are you okay?"

Before she could reply an explosion sounded from the far wall, knocking guests to the floor. Smoke drifted from the hole in the wall and as people coughed and tried to clear the air a figure stepped through the hole and stalked through the smoke toward Victor Broderick. As the smoke began to thin out a gasp arose from those that could make out the figure, because it was a shocking sight, one that was clearly inhuman.


	3. The Ghost

Scooby gave a shriek of fright and leaped into Shaggy's arms, who had joined him in yelling his fear, as they saw the figure in the smoke. The figure wore a black cloak and a dinner suit, but it was his face that caused the scream. For the face was horribly disfigured, the skin burnt and missing in places to reveal the muscles and bones underneath. The eyes were protruding from their sockets and emitted a freaky red glow. All in all, it was the face one would expect to find on someone who had died in a fire, not on someone still moving about.

The figure advanced to with a few feet of Victor before saying, "Victor Broderick, I have come to have justice. I shall take everyone that you care about, and when you are at your lowest, I shall take you." The figure burst into chilling laughter as he reached out and grabbed Todd, a burst of light emanating from the hand holding Todd indicating the electricity which shocked Todd into unconsciousness.

Victor couldn't move, too overcome by shock, but his brother Samuel reacted and tried to grab the Todd back from the figure. But before he could touch Todd, the figure swung his other hand in front of the two of them, a wave of flame shooting forth from that hand to create a wall of flame between them and the rest of the group. As everyone backed away from the roaring fire the sound of his laughter could still be heard, added with the screams of Todd, tinged with desperation and fear.

Seconds later the flames faded away, revealing the empty hole from which the figure had entered surrounded by devastation, but with no sight of either the figure or Todd. As everyone stared at the ragged exit, no one spoke as the shock was still too intense. Finally Fred spoke up, saying, "What was that?"

* * *

Later that evening the gang met in the kitchen, where Scooby and Shaggy were enthusiastically eating to quell their fear. Daphne stared at the two scarf down the food, amazed once again at the amount they could eat and yet still be able to remain as thin as they did. Just then the kitchen door open and Fred and Velma walked in, serious expressions on their faces. As they sat down Daphne asked, "Have you discovered what is going on here?"

Velma shook her head as she said, "Sorry, no. We tried to talk to Victor, but he refused to talk to anyone, and no one else knew what is going on." With a sigh she leaned against the table and added, "I guess we're completely in the dark on this one."

"That's where you are wrong young lady," a voice cried out. As they all turned the heads they saw on elderly gentlemen step in from the pantry, carrying in his hand a flask of brandy. He took a swig and said, "Old Phil knows."

Shaggy put down his food laden fork and said, "So, man, can you tell us how that was and what is going on."

Phil took a swig from his bottle and said, "That was the ghost of Henry Pats, otherwise known as the Mysterious Mage."

Scooby said, his voice quivering, "A rhost?"

Phil stared at Scooby for a second before saying, "Yes, a ghost. And I have all the dirt on him." Phil took a seat and another swig from his bottle before continuing. "You see, it took place years ago. Henry was the one of the best magicians around. Some considered him to be a worthy heir for the position Harry Houdini had, so you can guess how good he was. He lived in these parts, and had a young beautiful wife called Gloria, considered to be the best looking one around. There were many a men who were interested in her, and felt that with all the time that Henry spent out of town on his act that she would be interested in a little side action, but there was never a more loyal wife than her.

Among the many who desired after her was Victor Broderick, who was a young arrogant pup who believed that his money made him above the law and irresistible, which hasn't changed much since then. Anyway, every single time that Henry left he would be all over her, trying to get her interested him, and constantly failing. All of these failures piled up until he couldn't even stand to hear Henry's name.

Well, one night it all came to head. No one knows what exactly happened, but what is known is that Henry's car was involved in some sort of accident with him and Gloria in it. Victor showed up soon after and was able to rescue her, but the car blew up before he could get to Henry. He took her in and cared for her, some said in an attempt to win her heart. Whatever his reason it all came to nothing as a couple of days later she vanished, never to be seen again."

Phil shivered a little before taking another drink from his bottle. After smacking his lips he continued, "Ever since then people have said that his house has been haunted by a horribly burnt ghost that wears the clothes that Henry would wear in his act. Whenever anyone would go to that house that would wind up later stumbling about with no recollection of what happened except for a desperate sense of their lives being threatened. Others have said that they have seen Gloria wandering from room to room, as if searching for any sign of her husband."

The group stared at Phil in stunned silence over what he had said until Fred asked, "You said that people have seen this ghost at his old house. Can you tell us where that is?"

Phil nodded and said, "Sure, you head down the road till you see the only hill in the area. The house is on the top of that hill." With those words he headed back into the pantry, drinking from his bottle all the way.

Fred turned to the gang with a smile on his face as he said, "Well gang, it looks like we have a mystery on our hand."


	4. The Magician's Halls

The night was a balmy comfortable one, which was what was not to be expected when one went to deal with ghosts. The mystery machine hurled down the road, Fred driving rapidly so they could reach the house before anything happened to Todd or any other member of the Broderick family. Velma and Daphne shared the front seat with him as Shaggy and Scooby quivered in the back, muttering over the constant danger they would put themselves in.

Finally the van drove up the only hill in the immediate area and pulled to a stop in front of the mansion dominating both the hill and the area around it. As the gang got of the van they stared up at the building, which was an imposing sight which exuded an aura of the mysterious and dangerous because of the slight decay. Seconds passed before Scooby and Shaggy turned and headed back into the van, Shaggy saying over his shoulder, "Uh-uh. No way are we going into that spooky house."

Fred reached back and grabbed Shaggy and Scooby and pulled them out of the van and back to the rest of the group. Shaking his head he said, "No, no, no. You are coming with us guys. Remember, it's likely to be just a guy in a mask."

As they turned to enter the house Shaggy muttered, "Yeah, but they still always scare us witless." The group quickly walked up the flight of stairs and stopped in front of the door, which was a big dark one with a doorknocker in the shape of a skull on it. As they stared at it Shaggy said, his voice quivering, "So, who wants to knock on the door?"

Daphne gave Shaggy an exasperated look before turning the handle and opening the door. Cautiously they entered the house, stopping just within the foyer. In front of them was a majestic view, the staircase of front them rising dramatically to a platform with a picture of a man who was obviously Henry Pats.

Finally Fred broke the silence, saying, "Okay guys, let's split up and try to find some clue to that ghost." Shaggy groaned at Fred's statement, but before he could say anything in reply a trapdoor underneath the group opened up. Before anyone could react Shaggy and Daphne shot down the hole, disappearing into the darkness.

"Daphne," Fred and Velma cried, followed by Scooby with "Shraggy." As they leapt to the hole to add, it closed up, separating the two groups of people. Fred stood up and, quickly glancing about, said, "Come on, we got to go save those guys." He ran off, Velma and Scooby following close behind.

* * *

Down through the darkness fell Shaggy and Daphne, clutching at each other in fear and desperation. As they screamed they braced themselves for impact, which was forewarned by a light beneath them. They finally shot through the hole, sprawling on top of a mattress, causing them to only receive mild bruising.

Seconds later Shaggy pulled himself up and looked about before saying, "Where the heck are we?"

Daphne joined him in looking about as well, but before she could comment a voice boomed out from a previously unnoticed speaker. It said, "Welcome to the Three Halls of Magic. You must pass through these three halls if you wish to leave. Please step forward if you wish to enter the first hall."

Shaggy looked at Daphne, who shrugged, and the two of them headed toward the door at the far end of the room. Daphne opened the door to reveal a long hallway with another door at the end. Before they could cross the threshold the voice spoke out again, saying, "Welcome to the Hall of Misdirection. One of the greatest tools of any magician is that of misdirection, diverting people's attention from one thing so they focus on another, allowing a magician to successfully perform their tricks. This hall will teach you all aspects of this technique. You must walk down this hallway and exit the opposite door while maintaining constant eye contact with the door. If your eye wanders away from it you will never again recover sight of the door, as you can only freely view each door from the opposing door. As you walk along the hallway distractions will abound, both real and illusionary, so be careful."

Daphne looked around at the hall for several seconds before saying, "Okay Shaggy, this is what we are going to do. I'll keep my eyes on the door and get us there, you watch out for the distractions along the way." Shaggy nodded in agreement and the two headed into the room.

They had only gone a few steps when Shaggy said, "Zoinks, he was right, I can't find the door." Daphne nodded in acknowledgement but kept all of her concentration on the door in front of her. The continued walking for several more seconds when Shaggy said, "Watch out," and dragged her back. Something flashed back, but despite her curiosity Daphne refused to look at whatever had passed by and continued to stare at the door. This routine continued for a couple of minutes, Shaggy stopping Daphne every now and then, until the two finally reached the door. When they did Shaggy let out a sigh of relief and said, "Man, that was scary."

Daphne face shifted into a small smile before saying, "Yes, but that was only the first hall, I'm sure the next two will be equally scary." With those words she reached down and turned to the handle to open the door to the next hall.


	5. The Kiss

The voice cried out as soon as the door opened, saying "Welcome to the second hall, The Hall of Illusions. As misdirection is the first tool of a magician, illusion is the second, for only when the audience thinks they see something happen will they believe it did happen, whether or not it is true. All you have to do is walk across this hallway, but beware, for all is not what it seems."

Daphne looked about and began to step forward but Shaggy grabbed her arm and said, "Wait Daphne, I have a sneaking suspicion regarding the ghost's warning." As Daphne watched Shaggy knelt and cautiously felt forward. After patting the door several times he nearly collapsed as his hand fell through the floor. After pulling himself back upright Shaggy said, "Alright, I think this time I will lead the way, patting the floor to make sure it's there, while you keep your open for anything that comes our way." Daphne nodded in agreement and the two headed forth.

They proceeded at a slow pace as Shaggy carefully felt before him for any other holes, directing the two of them around any such dangers. They had proceeded forward for several seconds when a fearsome tiger burst out of a side door and headed toward them. Before Shaggy could bolt back to the door Daphne grabbed him and said, "Hold it Shaggy. There wasn't a door there before. This is probably just an illusion." Sure enough the tiger just sailed through them before disappearing. Shaggy shivered in fear for a few seconds before continuing forward with Daphne close behind, keeping an eye out for anymore illusions.

Several more illusionary dangers manifested themselves along the way, with Daphne keeping Shaggy from loosing his head in panic. Finally they reached the door, but Shaggy slowly went over the door to make sure that it wasn't a fake or if it was that there were no hidden dangers within it. Finally, after ascertaining that it was safe he carefully opened the door.

* * *

As soon as they beheld the third hall the voice once again broke the silence, saying, "Welcome to the third and final hall, the Hall of Magic. While the previous two skills learned can be acquired by anyone with enough practice, only the luckiest of people can acquire the skill of true magic. All that you have to do is to pass along this hall, but beware, for the magic that inhabits this room will distort reality in such a way to deny you egress."

Shaggy and Daphne looked at each in concern, but knowing that they had no other choice they stepped forward into the third hallway. They walked along cautiously, but nothing happened to them for the first half of the way. At that point Shaggy said, with relief deep in his voice, "Man, I guess that the trick to this hall is that people think it's going to be scary but is in fact a bluff." As Daphne began to agree with him the room shifted as if made out of clay, transforming into something beyond imagination.

As the room morphed and distorted Shaggy gave a shriek and leapt into Daphne's arms. As Shaggy quivered in fear against her body a warm feeling passed through her, but that feeling quickly passed as fear also began to enter her mind. She turned around to where the door had been, but that was gone as well, leaving the two trapped in this maelstrom of a room.

The two of them huddled together, trying to gain support from each other. As the room continued to shift around them, becoming more terrifying by the minute, Daphne began to notice a trend. The more that Shaggy and she quivered in fear, the more horrible the room became, as if it fed off of the fear they generated. With that thought she calmed down and the room became less terrifying, but it was still a chaotic morose as Shaggy was still overcome with terror.

Daphne shook him to get his attention as she said, "Shaggy, calm down. The room is reacting to your fear, if you calm down then everything will be okay." But despite her words he was too caught up in his fear to hear her. In desperation she reached into her purse and pulled a box of Scooby Snacks, saying, "If I give some Scooby Snacks will you calm down."

With a shiver in his voice Shaggy replied, "I don't think even Scooby Snacks will keep me from freaking out." With those words the room became even more horrifying, and that began to erode at the confidence that Daphne had built up against the wave of fear that constantly beset her. As she looked all over, searching for inspiration, the thought running through her mind was a question, how could she divert Shaggy's attention from the fearsome situation around them.

The answer came to her as if from out of the blue, and at first she balked at it, but she realized that it was possibly the only thing that would be enough of a shock to drag his mind from the danger they were in. She quickly turned his head to face hers and then, before she could have second thoughts or he could react, she dropped her head to kiss him full on the lips.

Her eyes were open as she did so, so she was able to see his eyes pop open as their lips made contact, but as time passed her eyes closed as she concentrated all of her mind onto the kiss. The lips that hers were pressed against were just as she had dreamed they would be, and this caused her to pull him closer as she felt him do the same to her. Time seemed to have stopped as the two clasped each other, their only thoughts being the lips that they were sharing with each other.

Finally they slowly pulled apart, their eyes opening to gaze on each other with a hint of both amazement and emotion. Several more seconds passed before they noticed that the hallway around them had reverted to the way it had been. With a slow nod they headed along to the door, still looking at each other. As they opened the door the voice boomed out, "Congratulations, you have passed the Three Halls of Magic. You have felt the wonders of magic and can no consider yourself worthy enough to be known as a magician." But Shaggy and Daphne ignored those words, still only concerned with studying each other.


	6. An Ending and a Beginning

Their revere was broken as they heard the noise of running people coming their way. Turning they saw Fred, Velma, and Scooby rushing toward them, Scooby arriving first and leaping into Shaggy's arms. As Shaggy petted him to calm him down Daphne turned to Fred and Velma and said, "Don't worry, we're okay."

Fred gave a brief hug before asking, "What happened to you guys?"

Daphne shrugged as she said, "Nothing that we couldn't handle. But did you find any clues concerning where the ghost is?"

Before a reply could be made a scream was heard coming from upstairs. They immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed for the stairs. The screams continued to come, and from that they were able to locate that the screams were coming from the second floor, and soon located the room from which they were coming from. Fred rushed the door and broke it down to reveal Victor secured to a chair with the ghost and an old lady standing above him, the ghost holding a red-hot brand which was getting closer by the second.

However that brand halted when the door had been busted open, startling both the ghost and the old lady, Victor being the exception to that feeling since he was focused exclusively on the brand. Quickly the ghost raised his hand and a burst a flame hurled from it toward Fred, who threw himself to the side to avoid the fire. The ghost walked over to Fred and raised his brand to impale it on him, but before he could thrust it Daphne threw herself at him, knocking him to the ground and forcing him to drop the brand. The old lady threw herself into the battle, landing on Daphne and commenced to twist her into submission. Velma, Scooby, and Shaggy joined in the fight, Velma and Scooby attacking the ghost while Shaggy attacked the old lady. When Fred joined in the battle it was soon ended with the old lady and the ghost subdued.

"And now," Fred said, reaching down, "It's time to reveal who the ghost really is." With those words he pulled a mask off of the ghost to reveal a young man. But the mystery was still unsolved, as no one knew who the man was.

As they were doing this Shaggy and Scooby were freeing Victor, who once free walked up to the two and, looking down, said, "Hah. You tried to torture me and mine, so I am going to see you rot in jail for the rest of your lives."

The old lady jerked as those words were spoken and with a snarl of anger she spat on him before saying, "You pig, you're the one who should rot in jail. It's your fault that my husband is dead, all because you couldn't take no for an answer."

Victor jerked back from the old lady and said, "Glo-Gloria Pats. Wha-What happened to you? Why did you run away from my help?"

She snorted as she said, "Like I would except help from a murderer. It was you that drove our car off the road, and it was you that refused to take Henry from the car, consigning him to that horrible fate. You took my husband, and I wasn't going to let you take the only thing left of him that I had." As she said that she turned to look at the man beside him, and everyone realized that they were looking at the son of the late Henry Pats. The look on Victor's face turned ashen, and he clutched at his chest as he gasped out in pain. Before anyone could react he collapsed to the floor.

* * *

As the van drove off from the town, the group inside was a more solemn one then the one that had arrived there earlier. Fred and Velma sat in front with Scooby between them while Shaggy and Daphne sat in the back. The road passed quietly, as no one was speaking because of what they had witnessed.

It had been too late to save Victor, so in the end the Pats had gotten their revenge, though that wasn't much of a condolence in prison. It had saddened them to see the young man with such potential being carted off because of the passion of revenge which had consumed him.

In the back Daphne leaned close to Shaggy and said, "Are you okay?' Shaggy nodded, but continued to be silent. A few minutes passed before Daphne said, "About what happened in the third hall, I know it was presumptuous, but it was the only option I had and…"

"It's okay Daphne; I understand why you did what you did." Another minute of silence passed before he added, "Of course, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy it." He smiled at those words, and she also smiled as well as they, covertly so the guys up front couldn't see it, reached out to hold each other's hands.


End file.
